Blower inlet control device



July 15, 1952 E. TRUMPA BLOWER INLET CONTROL DEVICE Filed Feb. 28, 1948 2 SHEETS-SHEET 1 INVENTOR.

vJllly15 1952 E. TRUMFA i 2,603,411

BLOWER INLET CONTROL DEVICE Filed Feb. 28, 194e 2 sHEET-SHEET 2 INVENTOR. [WM D TRU/VPA Patented July l5, 1952 2,603,411 y l 1 BLoWEniNLET ooN'rRoL-DEvioE A EwaldTrumpa, Huntingtom-ISL Y. ",Applieationrebmary 2s, 1948;' serial N0, 12,062

1 e This invention relates'to air iloW control de*v vices and in particular to one used in connection with the oil burner unit of a heating system.

The furnace or boiler with which an oil burner unit is employed is generally located in the cellar of the structure and close to the floor thereof where the coldest air in the house normally is found. A dwelling, used as an example of the application of my invention, may be provided with thermostat controls located in various parts of the house for automatically controlling the operation of the oil burner unit which includes the usual air intake chamber and a fan or blower, the motor, a fuel pump and a control circuit. When the operation of the unit is arrested under influence of the thermostat control, the cold air along the oor of the cellar rushes into the warm lire box of the furnace through the air intakev chamber andthe blower intake openings. This isdue to the difference in the weight of the cold air outside' the furnace and the warm air inside the furnace. This inrush of cold air quickly cools the rebox, the burner and the fuel in the latter with the result that, when the unit is again operated under control of the thermostat, it is sluggish and burns an excess of fuel oil in restoring itself to the normal operating condition that prevailed before it was shut down. This periodic curtailment of operation of the unit, as caused by the thermostat or in some instances a manual con- Y trol, uses an excess of fuel a number of times a day with the result that the aggregate consumption of fuel is greater than should normally be fore, to provide a means for preserving the heated condition of the interior of the furnacev firebox when the oil burner is periodically interrupted in its operation to lower the temperature of the rooms so that a substantial saving in fuel consumption can be obtained; so that when the burner unit is again operated. the fuel oil Iwill bring the nrebox up to operating temperature in the quickest period of time; so that by cutting down the time necessary to bring the flrebox up to the proper operating temperature, the heating system will be more quickly responsive to the control element and the differences in on and oil times of the burner will result in a furtherfand maximum saving of fuel.

I am aware that dampers have been employed in iiue pipes leading away fromthe furnace for ladjusting the flow of air, but these, by their location in the outlet Pipe or stack, do not prevent the cold air in the cellarfrom rushing into the iirebox when the fan ceases operation to cut down com y2 v v bustion. Other objects of my invention include the provision of means in association with theoil burner unit itself and connected with ythe motor and thermostat control circuit so that the air intake to the fan or blower can be automatically controlledin accordance with the operation of the oil burner unit;l Still further objects of the invention arethe provisionvof means thatfcanbe applied to any existing oil .burner unit or can be built into the unit originally; the parts lbeing so arranged that the device maybe `readily applied at small cost and in most instances without the need of any special equipment or expensive help for the home owner.'y

Various other objects and advantages of the invention will be obvious from the following particular description of my invention which constitutes certain new 'and useful features of construction and combination of parts hereinafter set forth yand claimed and illustrated in the accompanying drawings in which:

VFigure 1 is a view in side elevation of a typical furnace and oil burner installation as commonly used for the purpose of heating a structure showing the application of my invention thereto,

Figure2 lis a diagrammatic view of a circuit usedr'with the installation shown in Figure lfor operation of the oil burner and an air cut-off device under influence of a thermostat, Y

Figure Sis a view, partlyin section, of the cutoff device shownin the closed position it assumes when the oil burning unit is not operating,

Figure 4 is a fragmentary view similar to Fig-y showing the application tothe fan housing of a rotary type cut-off device,

Figure 8 is a side'view of a unit, partly in section, showing the use of another form of cut-off device,

Figure 9` is a view in endelevation of a .unit showing the application of a rotary typecutoff device thereto, and

Figure l0 is a side view of the device shown in Figure 9 with some parts omitted forclarityfof illustration. c

Referring to the drawings in detail, and in particular to Figures 1 through 6, a boiler or furnace of `standard type, indicated at I5,-'is serviced yby an oil burner. unit |16 including the usual suction air intake chamber or housing I1, motor driven blower I8 and oil feed pipe I9, through the latter of which fuel is fed to a burner, not shown, but disposed in the well known manner in the rebox of the furnace l5. Various arrangements of the air intake fan are em-` ployed, but all have air intake openings through which the air, in the cellar is drawn for forced Ypropulsi'onl tl'lroughfjthe` unit fto'support combustion in'the iirebtnc'.v In .one forni. the `fan housing which is formed to provide air chamber I1 of cylindrical shape, as at 20, is provided with peripherally spaced air intake openings V2l along the under side thereof and in the Ause of my novel air intake cut-off device, Iemp'loya Aflap plate 22 which closely conforms in'shapewith the curved outer surface of housing l1 so that Y it overlies all of the openings 2l to eectively close the same when the iiap plate is closed. The'plate is lshaped at one end with anoutwardly bent-flange 23 which is further bent at .its opposite Vends to 'provide tabs 24 through which extend a pivot pin' 25 xedat one end in the 'upper extremity of a bracket 26.

vThe pin 25 carries a spring A21, the free ends of-Whichengage the outer surface of flap plate 22 and. a: bracket mounted stud 2'8, respectively. The bracket is xed ato vasolenoid housing 29 asby bolts 30 and the housing may be secured in any suitable manner as by stud screws 3| to any adjacent part of the unit I6., Within the' housing 29 there is mounted a solenoid which is included in a circuit 33 connecting the motor I8 and one or more motorcontrolling thermostats 34 remotelylocated with reference to the .furnace. The core of the solenoid is provided with spaced ears 35 inwhich a pivot pin 36 is mounted and the outer surface ofthe plate 22 presents spaced tabs 31 in which a similar pivot pin 38 is journalled. The pins 36 .and 31 connect a link 39 with the solenoid and the plate so that when the solenoid is energized b-y operation of the thermostat to start vthe motor,- the plate 2-2 is pulled to open position as. shown iniFigure 4 against the resistance'of the spring...21 to uncover the-fan Ihousing inlet air openings'- 2|. Ordinarily when the motor ce'ases operating, the cold air entering the fan housing quickly'cooled off the burner andthe rebox'with the result that agreateramount of Afuel had'to be burned to attainnormal operating'conditions after .the motor was-again started.. My flapfplate is automatically closed by the action of the spring 21 whenV thesolenoid isv d'een'ergized by 'the breaking of the'vmotorfcircuitunder thermostatV control. While the thermostat is used as an example-the circuit could be manually controlled with lthe same'results.

Modifications in the burner units require that airy cut-off devices be diierently arranged and' to this end, as shown in Figure 7, an end wallJ40 of a fan airintake vho`using=4l Vhaving radially disposed segmental air'intake openings 42 has pivoted thereto asat 43 a disk plate 44 shaped to provide radially disposed segmental `air openings 45 and solid portions 46 arranged alternately so that the disk may be revolved to cover and uncover Vthe openings 4 2in the wall 49 to contro1 theair intake. The disk plate is provided with' extensionsy 48 toone of which is connected a spring49nandfto the other` Lan" operating link 5U which isiactuated structures .of various ,oil

.by thesolenoid The latter maybe-'physically Y mounted 'any suitable: manner and jincluded in the 'motor' circuit" so that when the'mtor 4 stops, the spring 49 will revolve or rotate the disk to bring the solid portions 46 into register with the housing openings 42 to seal the housing against cold outside air. Energization of the solenoid will adjust the disk plate to uncover the openings in the housing and supply air to the unit during operation.

In Figure 8. where the fan housing has an air intake duct opening 56, a Vcircular damper type closure disk may be pivotally mounted within and adjacent the mouth of the duct so that when the disk is in tilted position shown it will admit air and when in horizontal position will close the duct and prevent admission of cold air to therunit. The disk 5l is connected to the solenoid by-a link 52 and is moved to closed position by a 'spring 53 when the solenoid is deenergized.

In Figure 9, use is made of a ring or band type cut off 551 which has close sliding fit about the periphery.v of the fan airintake vhousing 56 in which spaced vopenings 51 are arranged. The band 55- has. alternately. arranged ports or openings. 58 and solid. portions 59 which register with .the openings 51 to cut off or supply air to the .fan -orrblowen The band has spaced ears 60 at ther lateral edges thereof for support of a pin 6l therebetween and't'o which one end of the solenoid line 62 is connected so that when the solenoidis energized and pulls on'the link, the band is rrotated enough to .uncover the openings 51 Ywhich are covered when the solenoid is deenergized Vby thecounter action of a spring 63 which connects .a tab 64V on the band with the housing. .While I have shown and described "acore .type solenoid, rit will be understood that and described, nor to anything less than the whole of the invention as hereinbefore set forth and as hereinafter claimed.

What I claim as new and desirerto secure by Letters Patent is:

The vcombination with an-eil burner housing of a blower andanair intake chamber opening into the blower and having an opening therein for admitting air to the blower from outside thehousing, of a bracket xed to said housing,

4a pivot pin extending from said bracket, a` flap plateshaped to conform to the exterior contour of saidhousing to fit over and close saidV opening tothe passage of air, said plate being shaped to 'provide Aa angaears on the flange for mountingthej-'plate pivotally von said pin, a spring mounted. ,onl said pivotpin and having its free ends in engagement with the bracket and the flap-plate for normally urging the latter toward and. against the housing to closed position, a

solenoid unit including a housing mounted on said-oil burner g housing, means for mounting said bracket on said solenoid housing, Years on said plate and a link connecting the core of the solenoid with the ears of the plate whereby the plate will be pulled` away from said housing vto opengpostion against the resistance of said is energized.

EW ALD uTRlJMPA.

spring' wheny the solenoidY `f f`- (References on following page) 5 REFERENCES CITED bgugrgg The following references are of record\in the 23273353 iile of this patent: 2,385,317

UNITED STATES PATENTS 5 Number Name Date 491,407 Davis Feb. '1, 1893 Nueoo 1,767,869 Baumgarten June 24, 1930 Name Date Pierce Dec. 31, 1935 Anderson Feb. 17, 1942 White Sept. 18, 1945 FOREIGN PATENTS Country Date Switzerland Mar. 16, 1939 Great Britain Nov. 29, 1938 

